Evaluating a Civil Case: Turning Instinct into a Repeatable Method

42 questions on evaluating a civil case, answered and cited by the UpLaw editorial team.

• Can a contract shorten the statute of limitations?
• Can a good breach of contract case be lost on a notice technicality?
• Can you walk through an expected value calculation for a plaintiff?
• Does the evaluation change if the dispute is headed to arbitration?
• How does collectibility matter to a defendant?
• How does insurance change the evaluation of a case?
• How does the pleading standard factor into case evaluation?
• How does the standard of proof affect a case's value?
• How does venue affect what a case is worth?
• How do fee structures change how a case should be valued?
• How do you build a decision tree for a lawsuit?
• How do you evaluate whether a claim can actually win?
• How do you keep a decision tree from lying to you?
• How do you price the damages in a case?
• How should a litigation budget be built?
• Is case evaluation different for plaintiffs and defendants?
• Is settlement value a single number?
• Is there a constitutional limit on punitive damages?
• What are the threshold defenses that kill a case before the merits?
• What changes when evaluating a class action?
• What changes when the defendant is a government entity?
• What complicates a statute of limitations analysis?
• What conflicts rules govern taking on a new civil case?
• What does a contingency lawyer's decision to decline a case tell you?
• What ethical rules govern contingency fees?
• What happens if a party fails to preserve electronically stored information?
• What is a proof matrix and why does it matter?
• What is a zone of possible agreement, and how do you find it?
• What is expected value in case evaluation?
• What is the difference between general and specific personal jurisdiction?
• What is the difference between subject-matter and personal jurisdiction?
• What is the repeatable sequence for evaluating a new civil case?
• What is the right question to ask at each stage of a case about cost?
• What pre-suit notice requirements can trap a plaintiff?
• What question is every civil case evaluation really asking?
• What should a lawyer do before evaluating the merits of a new case?
• What special factors apply when evaluating an intellectual property case?
• When does the duty to preserve evidence begin?
• Why does case evaluation matter more than trial skill?
• Why does it matter to define precisely who the client is?
• Why is collectibility the most overlooked factor in case evaluation?
• Why should liability and damages be evaluated separately?